Shahpor

Thanks David 👍 I did wonder about the radiators as there are wide open slots on both sides of the front bumper, so it wouldn't take much for a stone or something similar to damage them. It is surprising that Porsche didn't fit some mesh, but as you say, you could be quite cynical about such things. I will investigate what aftermarket solutions there are out there 👍

I am not planning on keeping it for that long, but your point is well made 🙂 Perhaps I am being naïve, but I am hoping for not much more than routine maintenance and wear and tear costs during my ownership. Granted, those are also very expensive, but at least they can be accounted for in advance. Having said that, servicing costs aren't too bad when you consider that the next major service isn't due until 2028!

Thanks Phil, good to know 👍 Strangely, Porsche service schedule for my Cayman are every 2 years or 20k miles. Since I don't do 10k miles a year, that means that my car isn't due its next service until Jun 2026! I am thinking this is too long, so I will probably take it to an independent to get the oil and filter changed. Having said that, Porsche Centre Portsmouth have been really good so far. Had a few niggles after I bought it, and even though they weren't strictly speaking warranty items, since I had just bought it, they sorted them out without question and were very helpful. It is just that they are very expensive!

Thanks David 👍 Sadly, no track day, but I am not in a hurry to take it there anyway, especially, as you say, the tyres don't last long at the best of times! To be fair, since it does handle so amazingly well, I do tend to throw it around corners quite a bit, so it isn't that much of a surprise that the tyres don't last that long. I do intend to use the main dealers for service, so thanks for the warning and I will watch out. Having said that, it is always good to know of a decent independent for anything that isn't service or warranty related, so I will keep Ray Northway in mind should I require their services. I found out that Porsche Reading charge £291 per hour for their labour!

So far, so good 😁 It does have an extended warranty until Jan 2027, so fingers crossed no expensive problems 🤞

Well, for those that might be interested, I suppose I should bring this topic full circle. Latest update is that I sold my Stinger last month. Sad times indeed ☹️ Had it 2 and a quarter years and roughly 14,500 miles. In that time, it was utterly brilliant, faultless (unless you include interior rattles and squeaks!) and great fun to drive. I miss it greatly. I should also point out that Wayland Kia in Reading were brilliant throughout. So, if it was so good, why did I sell it? I might be having a midlife crisis moment 🙂 A 2021 Porsche Cayman S is currently sitting on my drive. Pics to follow...

Interesting stuff indeed Linas, thanks for the update 👍 6kg is negligible, so it looks like an excellent candidate for a swap. Looking forward to see more progress soon!

What a great idea for a project! Nothing against those that spend thousands on their cars, but I do love a 'cheap', drop in upgrade when it can be done. Is the 3GR engine much heavier than the original? Can't imagine there is much in it, either way. Best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the results.

Despite being a Lexus forum, pictures of the Capri would be most welcome 🙂

Correct. It's rare that it happens as most PCP's have a rather conservative GFV, but it is an added form of protection against going into negative equity.

Sadly, John passed away last year 😢

I do think it is important to highlight that this forum, whilst a great place, probably represents quite a minority of owners. So, despite what is felt on here regarding Lexus' fortunes going forward, @Tickedon has it right that Lexus UK is doing better than ever: Lexus Achieves Record UK Sales In light of this, why would they go to the expense of fitting immobilisers to customers cars, especially as it would be quite a costly endeavor for them, with very little perceived gains? As such, I will re-iterate my earlier supposition that the only course of action for those unhappy with the situation is to change their cars. Although, in that case, I do feel that the costs attributed to the canbus thefts would be unrecoverable in any courts and the owner would sadly be the one who takes the hit.

The prices seem to have plateaued at the moment but I'm sure they will get a little cheaper in time. I certainly recommend getting one if you do manage to get the chance 👍 (just don't look at your running costs too closely...😀)

Waylands Kia in Reading are getting an Orange Stinger in soon if you are interested 🙂 2022, 5000 miles, £35k ish I believe.

Considering the cars I currently own, I might be a little bias 🙂 Having said that, what people have said regarding Kia so far in response to the original post pretty much sums up my feeling on the matter. My wife loves her EV6 and I must say I am very impressed as well. As an EV it also suits our requirements well with a good range. Our last 4 cars have been Kia's and they have all been faultless (or at least the issues have been dealt with by the dealer in a very satisfactory manner). I also agree with @Ken R regarding the Picanto. I had the exact same GT Line S spec as a loan car for a couple of days and it was great fun!

Hi Dan, I get Teams chat notifications on my Android Auto. I can also reply by voice. Hope this helps.

Mostly likely, but if there are no codes showing, then who knows? At this point, you would need TechStream to see what is going on and run some diagnostics.

Nope, the only way to manually start a cleaning cycle is via TechStream. Usually you can tell when a DPF cleaning is running as lots of smoke comes out the back!

When was the last time the EGR valve was cleaned? If not in a while, then a relatively easy first step as it will most likely need cleaning anyway.

Thanks Malc 👍 The up front investment and long term thinking, house wise, means it certainly isn't for everyone, but given the choice, it is definitely something I would recommend doing if the figures line up. Very happy that I did mine, at least so far! 🙂 As for adding value, we were told to expect no uplift in the purchase price of the house should we ever sell, but it is claimed that it would be more 'sellable' due to the desirability of having a system already installed for any potential buyer. Who knows if that is true 🤷‍♂️

Well, the panels themselves have a 25 year warranty, so they shouldn't need replacing anytime soon! Most of the systems looks designed to last the long term, with the exception of the battery, which is just like any other battery. In this case, SolarEdge guarantee 70% capacity remaining after 10 years regardless of charge cycles. It should be noted that this is a minimum and the likelihood is that the remaining capacity will be higher. Either way, the plan has always been to invest in another battery when the time comes. So, for example, lets say that somewhere 10-15 years from now, the battery isn't holding as much charge as we would like and is managing only 6kWh's capacity. In this case, we would simply buy another battery to go alongside the existing one to make the total available battery power 16kWh's. Yes, this would represent another cost, but by then we would have made back the expenditure of the existing system, and added a few years afterwards, so it is still worth it. Also, the cost of the batteries is coming down all the time, so it wouldn't cost the same as the last time. Technology does move on, and perhaps when replacement parts are required, something newer and better will be available. However, from my point of view, as long as the system we have continues to provide what we want and works well, I am happy to stick to what we have rather than upgrade unless the financial figures compel me to do so. In the end, it is really like any other house system, in other words, intended for long term use but might require the old hiccup rectifying once in a while. The crux is that you need to think long term and not plan to move house for a long time!

Didn't think I was eligible for that one, but will have a look and change if so. Thanks for the tip 👍

Hi Malc, It is tricky to determine exact values as I am on a tariff that provides cheap electricity for 4 hours each night (9p kWh). Also, I haven't had it a full year yet! There are probably people smarter than me that could extract the data from the Solaredge site, but I don't know how I'm afraid. What I can tell you is that it ended up at roughly £18k all-in for my install. Also, it looks like I have generated about 5.4 MWh's in the last 10 months: So, it depends on how you look at it. This time last year I believe my tariff was roughly 41p kWh, so if all the energy my solar generated was at that price, then I would have saved about £2.2k! Of course, this isn't the case and some of it was at the cheaper rate, which were around 11p kWh at the time and is 9p kWh now. The calculations are also a little more tricky as the whole point of the house battery is that you charge it at the cheaper rate (9p) and then, in combination with the solar panels, you use it during the day instead of grid power. This means that the electricity I am consuming during the day is technically costing me only 9p even though I am not in the cheaper rate hours. This also means, depending on your usage and battery capacity, it is still economically viable to have the system, even with the rates of electricity coming down, as I doubt they will drop to less than 10p kWh anytime soon. One last contributing factor that makes my calculations more difficult to define is that I have an EV car, so I need to charge that either from the grid or via solar. All that being said, the easiest way I can explain the cost saving is that my monthly direct debits for gas and electricity have come down from £300 a month to £100! 🙂 We have been on £100 since last August and it looks like it will average out for us for the winter months. Last year, I think it was from May onwards, it was fantastic as the solar generated so much power that it could run the house easily, charge the battery fully (so no overnight charging required) and fill up the EV! Occasionally, it even sent back enough energy into the grid during the month that we ended up in positive figures on our bill, even after the standing charge was applied. This year, we have our solar water heater, so I am expecting a reduction in our gas bill as well. It does depend on your circumstances, and we are quite heavy users, but based solely on the bills we have received, I do believe we will breakeven in 7.5 to 8 years or so. Of course, no one can predict what will happen with prices, but with our increase in usage of our EV, and the solar water heater now helping, I definitely think it will end up owning us nothing before the 10 year mark. Apologies for the rambling nature of this post 🙂 If there is anything that I haven't cover here, please say so and I'll do my best to work it out.

Quite right, and after a lengthy delay due to lack of stock, I have my solar water heater installed now, so looking forward to getting some good use out of it in the coming months!